Woman Meets Future Husband While Working At The Arlington Central Library Precinct

ARLINGTON,VA — On Tuesday, Stephanie Sanders of Arlington Forest was right where she always is on Election Day — at the Arlington Central Library polls, welcoming voters.

Counting regular elections and primaries, the patent attorney — who moved to Arlington from Long Island, New York — estimated she has worked at the library precinct more than 20 times since 2007.

"It's important to me that the election process is done appropriately, by the rules and effectively," she said. "It's something that I'm able to do for the community, and I enjoy doing it."

In addition to allowing Sanders to perform her civic duty, working at the polls has had a significant impact on her personal life. She met her husband at the central library polling place in 2007.

When Sanders moved into the area, she updated her voter registration, checking the box that said she was interested in working at the polls.

"I came in, and he was the chief," she said. "We started working together, became friends and we found love."

Even though the couple got married in September 2010 after meeting as poll workers, that was not their only personal link to Election Day.

"The super fun fact is that our son was born on Election Day in 2014," she said. "What are the odds of that? I did not give birth at the precinct. We skipped that."

By 11 a.m. Tuesday, 435 people had cast their votes at the central library precinct. Sanders said a handful of people were waiting when the polls opened, and it has been a steady stream of voters since then.

"We have not had a line," she said. "But we have four poll book officers and two scanners, so we've kept people moving."

Voter traffic, in fact, was greater than on Election Day in 2020, when many people chose to vote early due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Sanders. She said about half of the 4,300 registered voters on the precinct rolls had voted early this year.

Sanders said that Tuesday's turnout seemed to be a little bit more than in other recent off-year elections.

Arlington resident Craig Colgan said Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin inspired him to come to the central library polling place on Tuesday.

"I think this is a different kind of candidate," he said. "This is a candidate that Virginia needs. I think he's excited a lot of people. I think he's excited a lot of centrists. I think he's excited a lot of Democrats. That's a new kind of candidate for the state. I think the state can benefit from somebody like that who can bring people together."

Jennifer Tumminio of Arlington, who voted at the Yorktown precinct Tuesday morning, said one of her biggest issues as a voter is pushing for a diversity of voices and experiences on the county board.

“It can’t be a one-party system,” said Tumminio, who served in the military. “Having differing viewpoints is what makes our country great.”

“What we’re missing in our society is rational, unemotional political discourse where we sit down and talk about the issues, where we respect each other and each other’s voices,” she said.

Jordan Dixon, who also voted at the Yorktown precinct in Arlington, said reproductive rights and negotiating cheaper prescription drugs were her two biggest issues at the state level and why she voted for Terry McAuliffe for governor.

“With the governor’s election, there was one candidate who wanted to propose an abortion ban, and I’m really big on female reproductive rights — my body, my choice,” Dixon said.

She fears Virginia could be headed in the same direction as Texas in terms of making it almost impossible for women to get an abortion with Youngkin as governor and Republicans in control of the General Assembly.

Related: Arlington General Election 2021: Candidates, How To Vote

More information: 2021 Voter Guide